Judges 1:36 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

NIV: The boundary of the Amorites was from Scorpion Pass to Sela and beyond.

NASB: The border of the Amorites ran from the ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela and upward.

CSB: The territory of the Amorites extended from the Scorpions' Ascent, that is from Sela upward.

NLT: The boundary of the Amorites ran from Scorpion Pass to Sela and continued upward from there.

KJV: And the coast of the Amorites was from the going up to Akrabbim, from the rock, and upward.

NKJV: Now the boundary of the Amorites was from the Ascent of Akrabbim, from Sela, and upward.

Judges chapter 1 ends with a detail about the group identified as the Amorites in southern Israel. It's possible that the names "Amorite" and "Canaanite" were used generically for the general population at this time (Joshua 24:15).

The tribe of Dan had been unable to take the plains from the Amorites in their territory, though Ephraim had been able to enslave at least some of the Amorite population eventually (Judges 1:34–35). This verse adds that the Amorite territory may have started as far south as the southwestern edge of the Sea of Galilee, where the "ascent of Akrabbim" is thought to have been located. The border ran to a now unknown location called Sela.

Judges 1:27–36 gives nearly the same report about six separate tribes of Israel: Manasseh, Ephraim, Zebulun, Asher, Naphtali, and Dan. Each fails to drive out the inhabitants of the cities in their allotted territories. Some succeed, eventually, in subjugating portions of the Canaanites or Amorites. None succeeds in obeying God's command to completely purge the land of those depraved cultures (Deuteronomy 20:16–18). Instead, the people mingle among the Israelites, with terrible consequences in the chapters to come.

Judges 1 summarizes the early efforts of the tribes of Israel to drive the Canaanites from the land or to destroy them entirely (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). The process starts well with a string of successes by Judah and Simeon in the south. Then the news turns sour as one tribe after another is said to have failed to drive the Canaanites out of their allotted territories. Instead, they occupy certain territories, often allowing inhabitants of the land to live among them.

Judges 1 continues immediately from the death of Joshua (Joshua 24:29–30). It begins a new era for Israel, now referred to as the time of "the judges." In a series of reports, tribe by tribe, the narrator describes Israel's success or failure to drive the deeply wicked Canaanites (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4) from the land or to destroy them. Judah experiences much success, but it is unable to drive the inhabitants out of one region, at least. Every other tribe either fails utterly to remove the Canaanites, or only gradually grows strong enough to capture the territory.

The Book of Judges describes Israel's history from the death of Joshua to shortly before Israel's first king, Saul. Israel fails to complete God's command to purge the wicked Canaanites from the land (Deuteronomy 7:1–5; 9:4). This results in a centuries-long cycle where Israel falls into sin and is oppressed by local enemies. After each oppression, God sends a civil-military leader, labeled using a Hebrew word loosely translated into English as "judge." These appointed rescuers would free Israel from enemy control and govern for a certain time. After each judge's death, the cycle of sin and oppression begins again. This continues until the people of Israel choose a king, during the ministry of the prophet-and-judge Samuel (1 Samuel 1—7).

Accessed 5/1/2024 1:11:22 PM